Making Mistakes & Living Our Best Anti-Inflammatory Life

Here at Delicious Arthritis, I try to help myself and others live our best anti-inflammatory life. Arthritis is hard. Autoimmune illnesses are hard. Cutting things out of our diet is also really hard. Even when I know that I might be better off fully cutting out sugar 7 our of 7 days of the week or fully cutting out inflammatory food all the time, that doesn't mean it always happens. Life happens sometimes too. Sometimes I eat more sugar than I intended and I have a flare up. Sometimes I don't get enough sleep and my joints feel worse. When those times happen though, it is important that I (and you) find a way to forgive myself  (ourselves). I didn't mean to eat something that made me have a flare up. I didn't intend to "fall off the wagon." Life happens sometimes and we just have to do the best we can.

I have a mentor, Mel, who often says: "Food is NEVER a moral issue." I am here right now to tell you that sometimes you'll slip up. Sometimes you'll eat that added sugar. Sometimes you'll eat a nightshade plant. Sometimes you'll drink more alcohol than your prescriptions recommend. That does not mean that you're a bad person. That doesn't mean that you're going to do it over and over again and that all your hard work was for nothing. It only means that you slipped up. You are human. On that same note: you are not superior or noble or a good person just because you follow all of your food rules. That isn't how food works. Food is just food; it is delicious, healthy, nourishing, and sometimes even decadent, but at the end of the day it is just the fuel that makes you run. We want the best fuel for our body but sometimes we don't give ourselves premium fuel, sometimes we just give ourselves the fuel that is available. That is okay.

Mr. Rogers once said:

"Some days, doing 'the best we can' may still fall short of what we would like to be able to do, but life isn't perfect (on any front) and doing what we can with what we have is the most we should expect of ourselves or anyone else." 

So, when you're having a hard time living your most anti-inflammatory life, forgive yourself. You're doing the best you can. Your do over starts now: Not later today, not tomorrow, your do over starts now. 

Here are five fabulous anti-inflammatory things to give yourself a fresh start today:

1. Make this Anti-inflammatory Chai Latte to drink with your breakfast!
2. Or this Anti-inflammatory Smoothie!
3. Or bring along one of my Delicious Arthritis: Hazelnut Chocolate Date Bars for a midday snack!
4. Or make Ginger Garlic Baked Salmon for dinner!
5. Or simply drink more water throughout your day!

You can do this. I believe in you.